McLaren & Lewis Hamilton Lose the Appeal against the Belgian Row

McLaren's appeal against Lewis Hamilton's 25-second penalty at the Belgian Grand Prix has been rejected.

Hamilton strongly pressed his case at Monday's appeal to the FIA in Paris as he aimed to overturn his punishment for cutting a chicane at Spa.

The 23-year-old was demoted into third, with Felipe Massa handed the victory.

The five judges ruled that the appeal was inadmissible and so Hamilton's four-point deduction stands, leaving him one point clear in the title race.

If successful, Hamilton would have seen his lead increase over Ferrari's Massa to seven points.

However, has the appeal been heard it is possible the penalty against Hamilton could have increased.

"Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are 'not susceptible to appeal'," the FIA said in a statement.

"Having heard the explanations of the parties, the court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible."

And after Tuesday's verdict, Hamilton said: "People will probably expect me to be depressed about today's result, but that isn't me.

"All I want to do now is put this matter behind me and get on with what we drivers do best: racing each other.

"We're racers, we're naturally competitive and we love to overtake. Overtaking is difficult, and it feels great when you manage to pull off a great passing manoeuvre.

"If it pleases the spectators and TV viewers, it's better still. So I'm disappointed, yes, but not depressed."

Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's chief operating officer, added: "We are naturally disappointed with today's verdict, and to have received no ruling on the substance of our appeal.

"No-one wants to win Grands Prix in court; but we felt that Lewis had won the Belgian Grand Prix, on track, in an exciting and impressive manner.

"Our legal team and witnesses calmly explained this, as well as our belief that the appeal should be admissible, to the FIA International Court of Appeal.

"It nonetheless decided that our appeal was inadmissible. We will now concentrate on the remaining four races of the 2008 Formula 1 season."

The appeal court judges were faced with two decisions.

They first had to consider whether McLaren's appeal was admissible, as Formula One rules do not allow teams to appeal against drive-through penalties.

The penalty given to Hamilton was technically a drive-through penalty.

However, as it was issued retrospectively McLaren barrister Mark Philips QC had argued that no actual drive-through took place, so the appeal should be considered.

Secondly, the judges had to decide if Hamilton sufficiently surrendered the advantage he had gained when cutting the chicane.

The Englishman was battling with Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen at the Spa circuit when he cut the Bus Stop chicane, resulting in him overtaking the Finnish driver.

Despite allowing Raikkonen to immediately reclaim the lead, Hamilton then overtook the Ferrari driver at the next corner to go back in front.

As video footage of the incident was shown, Hamilton told the court he was trying to avoid crashing into Raikkonen.

"We had a great battle and there was no need to take stupid risks, so I had to cut the chicane," he said.

"I've since studied the footage about 10 times and I can remember it vividly like it was yesterday.

"I believe I then gave the advantage back. I honestly, hand on heart, feel I did so."

Whitmarsh told reporters he believed the judges were "confident of our facts" following the hearing.

"Based on the evidence we saw at the time, and from subsequent analysis, we believe any advantage was ceded," he added.

"Therefore it's even more reason to get those points back."

Hamilton has since left France for Singapore ahead of Sunday's first ever night race.
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McLaren & Lewis Hamilton:attend the hearing in the Afternoon

PARIS — Lewis Hamilton and his bosses at McLaren attended a hearing Monday at Formula One headquarters that will decide whether to reinstate his Belgian Grand Prix victory.

After three hours of meetings, Hamilton emerged and walked to the neighboring Hotel Crillon in central Paris surrounded by bodyguards, ignoring reporters' questions.

Lawyers for McLaren, Ferrari and the FIA presented their arguments at the morning session before breaking for lunch. The hearing was to resume in the afternoon, with the ruling expected to be announced Tuesday.

The hearing follows the McLaren team's appeal of a 25-second time penalty handed to Hamilton at Spa earlier this month when the British driver was judged to have gained an advantage by cutting a chicane on his way to victory.

After the penalty, the win was awarded to Hamilton's main championship rival Felipe Massa of Ferrari, while Hamilton was bumped down to third. Hamilton's lead over Massa in the drivers' standings is now down to one point after last weekend's Italian GP.

If he wins the appeal, Hamilton's F1 championship lead will be increased to seven points with four races after he regains four points and Massa loses two.

Hamilton flies to Singapore on Tuesday ahead of F1's first-ever night race Sunday.

"All we can do is present the facts," McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said Sunday. "We have just got to present the data and whatever the outcome is, that is the outcome."

Three judges appointed to the International Court of Appeal will decide whether McLaren's appeal is justified.

Hamilton was dueling with Massa's teammate Kimi Raikonnen at the closing stages of the Belgian GP and cut across the Bus Stop chicane to overtake the Finnish driver.

Hamilton immediately allowed Raikonnen to reclaim the lead before overtaking him at the next corner for the eventual win.

The judges must decide if Hamilton sufficiently surrendered the advantage he had gained when cutting the chicane.

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Hamilton stripped of his victory:placed 3rd by the race stewards

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of a dramatic victory in the Belgian Grand Prix after stewards handed him a 25-second post-race penalty.

The Englishman was demoted to third place behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

He was accused of gaining an advantage by cutting the Spa circuit's Bus Stop chicane in a late-race battle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton's lead over Massa in the title chase has been cut by two points.

Massa's team-mate Raikkonen, who crashed out of second place shortly after losing the lead, is 19 points adrift behind Hamilton.

Before the penalty, Hamilton had extended his lead over the Brazilian to eight points, with Raikkonen effectively out of the running on 23.

On the track, Hamilton had survived a frantic last two laps in a late shower of rain to apparently score a superb win.

Hamilton lost the lead to Raikkonen with an early spin but fought back in the closing laps to re-take the lead with two laps to go.

In a dramatic climax on a soaking track, Hamilton passed Raikkonen, lost the lead again with a spin, re-took it and then saw Raikkonen crash.

I was praying for rain - I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it

Lewis Hamilton

In a chaotic final couple of laps, Heidfeld jumped from eighth to third place on the track with what he called a "hero or zero decision" to come in for wet-weather tyres with two laps to go.

Renault's Fernando Alonso chose the same tactic a lap later and it secured the double world champion the fourth place he had held for much of the race.

"It was an experience and a half," Hamilton said before his penalty was announced. "I was praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it.

"The heavens opened and I saw Kimi begin to back off and to brake a bit earlier.

"I was going reasonably wide at Turn 12 but Rosberg spun and went off where I was coming back on. I went over the grass. It was incredibly tough.

"Kimi pushed me wide. I was a little bit ahead. I was outside on Turn One, I had no room and he basically pushed me so I went on the escape route.

"So I let him past, then got in his tow and he was ducking and diving left and right but I managed to get past him and I was pretty much gone from there."
Lewis Hamilton lost his lead in the Belgian Grand Prix with this spin on lap two
Hamilton fought back from this early spin to win in dramatic fashion

It was another superb performance in the wet from Hamilton, who has inherited Michael Schumacher's mantle as Formula One's rain master.

But for a long time it had looked as if the Englishman had tossed away his chance of victory on the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The race started with the track wet in the immediate vicinity of the pits but dry on the majority of the lap.

Hamilton, along with every other driver in the race other than Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr, chose dry tyres.

But the conditions caught him out at the start of lap two, and he spun turning into the La Source hairpin.

The mistake put Raikkonen right behind him and the Ferrari driver simply drove past on the straight after the Eau Rouge esses.

It was a critical error from Hamilton, who was fuelled to make his first pit stop a lap earlier than Raikkonen.

606: DEBATE
I don't believe it - Raikkonen didn't finish so there was no advantage ultimately

S92

That meant his main hope of holding off the Ferrari driver was to build a lead big enough before his stop on lap 10 that Raikkonen could not close it on his extra lap.

Instead, although Hamilton shadowed Raikkonen to the first stops, he could not pass him.

Hamilton's hopes were further dented when he came out from his pit stop right behind his slower team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who was battling for position with Kubica.

By the time he had cleared Kovalainen and Kubica five laps later, Raikkonen was five seconds ahead, a lead he was able to maintain comfortably to the second round of stops.

The two men both made their final stops on lap 25 and on the harder tyre Hamilton was able to close on the Ferrari.

The 23-year-old shaved about half a second a lap out of Raikkonen's lead and was within two seconds of the Ferrari by lap 31.
Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari is carried back to the pits after the Finn's crash on the penultimate lap of the Belgian Grand Prix
Raikkonen's hopes of victory - and probably the title - ended with a crash

He was unable to make much more of an impression until the predicted late shower of rain arrived with about five laps to go.

Within minutes, the back of the circuit was soaking, while it remained dry in the vicinity of the pits - not an unusual situation at a track renowned for its capricious weather.

Hamilton closed right up to Raikkonen on lap 42 but he fatefully cut the Bus Stop chicane after pulling out of a passing move at the end of the lap.

He then chased Raikkonen down the pit straight and passed the Ferrari going into the La Source hairpin at the start of lap 43.

But that was not the end of the battle.

When the two men reached the wet part of the track halfway around the lap, Hamilton slid off, handing the lead back to Raikkonen, who almost immediately lost it again by sliding off himself.

The Finn then lost control going through the fast Blanchimont corner, and speared into the wall.

But the drama had not finished, and was merely switched to the stewards' office.

Their decision is likely to be greeted with cynicism as it makes the championship battle dramatically closer at a time when Hamilton was beginning to look like he was inching towards his first title.

2008 Belgian gp-SPA Francorchamps-Qualifying Session results

1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:46.887	1:46.088	1:47.338	12
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:46.873	1:46.391	1:47.678	16
3	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:46.812	1:46.037	1:47.815	16
4	1	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:46.960	1:46.298	1:47.992	14
5	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:47.419	1:46.311	1:48.315	18
6	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:47.154	1:46.491	1:48.504	18
7	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:47.270	1:46.814	1:48.736	19
8	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:47.093	1:46.494	1:48.763	20
9	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	1:46.777	1:46.544	1:48.951	19
10	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	1:47.152	1:46.804	1:50.319	16
11	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:47.400	1:46.949		13
12	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	1:47.052	1:46.965		15
13	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:47.359	1:46.995		13
14	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	1:47.132	1:47.018		15
15	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:47.503	1:47.429		12
16	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:48.153			9
17	16	Jenson Button	Honda	1:48.211			9
18	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	1:48.226			9
19	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:48.268			9
20	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	1:48.447			9